Such electrical flat conductors are used for example in the automotive industry as an alternative to round conductors. Owing to the flat geometry of the flat conductors these can be used for example in cases in which there is little space available for their installation, such as for example behind a cladding in the interior of a motor vehicle.
Such a flat conductor includes a conductive flat conductor core, which extends in the longitudinal direction of the flat conductor and whose height (in cross-section) is less than its width. The flat conductor core is encased in an insulation in order to avoid undesirable electrical contacts of the flat conductor core with other conductive components in the environment of the flat conductor.
Such flat conductors are before their installation often bent by means of bending tools into a shape that is adapted to the desired contour of the flat conductor in the motor vehicle. In order to shape such a flat conductor a bending tool can for example be applied externally to one side of the flat conductor and a force can be exerted on this side of the flat conductor in order to effect a mechanical bending of the flat conductor, in particular of the flat conductor core.
With such shaping procedures there is the problem that the insulation of the flat conductor may be damaged as a result of the forces acting on the flat conductor, especially if comparatively soft insulating materials such as for example polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are used. The risk of damage to the insulation is particularly great if the shaping is performed on a narrow side of the flat conductor.
In order to avoid damage to the insulation of the flat conductor the bending processes could be changed by reducing the rates at which the bending tools act on the flat conductors, so that the forces acting on the insulation are also reduced. This leads however to longer cycle times in the bending processes, so that the production costs of 3D-bent flat conductors would be increased. Depending on the machine utilisation this procedure could even require the procurement of further bending devices, thereby also in addition incurring investment costs.